Parenting skills to help young children take their medicines
Official title: Behavioral Parenting Skills as a Novel Target for Improving Pediatric Medication Adherence
Funded at Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corp · NIH-11251601 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A parent-focused program designed to help families of children ages 3–9, including those with leukemia, improve how reliably kids take their medicines.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corp NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Buffalo, United States) |
| Project start | December 15, 2021 |
| Project end | November 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $632,198 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA258337-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11251601 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are caregivers and their children ages 3–9 who are prescribed regular, at-home medications (including outpatient chemotherapy for pediatric ALL) and are willing to try a parenting-skills program.
✕Less likely to help
Children older than the target age range, those not taking routine at-home medicines, or cases where adherence problems stem from medical or cognitive issues beyond parenting support may not benefit from this program.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll learn practical parenting strategies (CareMeds) meant to make it easier for young children to take daily medicines at home. The team is refining the program and testing whether families can use the skills in real life, focusing on children ages 3–9 and including those with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The work uses early-stage development steps (NIH Stage 0 and 1) with feedback from families and measures of medication-taking to shape the program. The project will look at feasibility, acceptability, and early signs that the approach helps families follow prescribed treatment plans.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help families increase children's medication adherence and reduce preventable relapses, hospital stays, and treatment complications.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research links family functioning and parenting to medication adherence and some early interventions show promise, but effective, widely adopted parenting-skills programs to boost pediatric adherence remain limited, making this a relatively novel practical approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corp
Buffalo, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bouchard, Elizabeth — Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corp
- Study coordinator: Bouchard, Elizabeth
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.